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Tag Archives: Commencement Bay

Driving home from Brown’s Point the other day, I stopped to admire the view along Marine View Drive. The information sign told me that I was enjoying the Skookum Wulge Beach Habitat Restoration, a 1.19 acre parcel of uplands and tidelands of Commencement Bay that had previously been the Meeker Log Storage lease. When the lease expired in 1999, the property was purchased and the title conveyed to the Puyallup Tribe. The site was renamed to Skookum Wulge, which translates to powerful salt water. There are two other sites in this project, Yowkwala and Squally Beach. For more information on the Skookum Wulge, go here.

Thea Park hosted dragon boat races today and dear husband and I managed to see the very end of it. Not the racing part, but there was still a group receiving awards and a booth or two. I wandered on to the dock to see the new still dragon boats, their dragon heads being safely stowed.

To celebrate Friday and dear daughter’s last day with us for a while we took the dogs to Thea’s Foss and took a photo of a traveling new place, the Jin Rui, a bulk carrier built in 2009 and flagged out of Hong Kong, China. This ship is on its way to South Korea and should arrive in about two weeks. Interestingly, I am writing this as I watch All is Lost, about a man (Robert Redford) lost at sea after his boat is damaged by a lose shipping container.

Northern Fish Company at 2201 Ruston Way in Tacoma has a wonderful setting with Commencement Bay out its back door (if it had a back door!). There are two Northern Fish Co. locations in Tacoma with the other one being at 3911 South 56th. The Ruston Way location not only offers seafood to prepare at home, but also seafood chowders and baskets to either eat there or at home. Their website is here http://www.northernfish.com/

Now I hadn’t actually gone to Katie Downs for pizza, but while I was there my dear daughter called wanting me to stop for thai food. I talked her into wanting pizza instead and brought home a double cheese, pesto and fresh tomato pie. It was delicious!

Firemen’s Park at South 8th and ‘A’ Street in Downtown Tacoma is reputed to have the world’s largest totem pole. At 105′ long (82′ above ground) the 1903, red cedar totem pole certainly is tall. The park also features a bronze statue, Leading the Way, by Larry Anderson. Mr. Anderson has several sculptures around town including the one in front of Union Station. Today somebody placed a shawl on the logger, perhaps to help with the cool nights! The park is rounded out by views of Commencement Bay, the Port of Tacoma, the Murry Morgan Bridge, Mt. Rainier and the Tacoma Dome.